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Friday, November 28, 2008

I've been looking at tons of pictures (and plans) of tiny houses, and so been thinking about how one actually lives in such a house, particularly as a couple or with children. The more I think about it, the more simplicity seems to require a lot of planning. Our current place is less than 500 square feet, and it's more than adequate right now, but it can be pretty difficult to reduce the number of things in the house.

One of the ways we've reduced (and are still reducing) our paper has been by scanning all our bills, paystubs, receipts, cards and programs, etc. I'm sentimental and so I really like keeping things as reminders of events. I spend most of my day at my work, so I keep a few special cards at work, but otherwise, we're heading towards complete paper-freedom.

You need: Electronic storage space (aah, the power of virtual space!)A scanner that's simple enough that you don't dread scanningA bag for all the paper recycling (some of which may have to be torn up before you throw it away)

We've gone through much of our documents, but there's plenty more to go. Getting to the maintenance stage may be key, because once you're there, you'll just be scanning a few monthly bills or cards once in a while.

Monday, November 17, 2008

This Thanksgiving seemed like a good opportunity to think back on the past year. Although I've thought about the idea of social responsibility in the abstract for a pretty long time, this past year is the first time I've had the opportunity to think concretely about my own resources, and what I want to work towards doing with them.

This past year, I went from having two part time jobs to one full time job. What struck me in that transition was how much I loved and appreciated those I worked with. The job is clearly a gift, much as the previous two jobs were.

I still think about the idea of home a fair amount- although our home is completely my home, it is also absolutely not my home, because my extended family is very far away. Our apartment is a source of huge thanksgiving-- in providing a place for us but also in providing a level of freedom that would be much more difficult if rent were more expensive. Social responsibility is difficult in Boston (and probably anywhere) because the trend is towards focusing on increasing comfort. It's super easy to want to move into a bigger apartment or house, or even to just buy more stuff. Social responsibility and frugality seem to be closely related.

We've had a budget for the first time this year. It's helped us pay back close to half our annual income in student loan debt. It's also meant we've been able to give away several thousand dollars.

As I have learned about the impact of even small choices, I've felt empowered to enjoy and be grateful for the resources I am using up, and also think about how to make changes for the long term so that, over my lifetime, I use up less. As a Christian, there's often a tendency to think about the earth's resources in a pretty fatalistic way-- "God's gonna take care of us"-- but that would mean that whatever we do is just a game, which doesn't ring true. It's much more possible that God wants us to experience abundance through responsible stewardship.

Sunday, November 9, 2008

Our cell phones are about two and a half years old and we're thinking of getting a new (hopefully cheaper) plan. The plan automatically comes with a new cell phone, so I was thinking about simple ways to lessen the impact (financial, social, environmental) of our purchase.

One positive thing we've learned by taking the purchase seriously and slowly is that firstly, we could wait until Black Friday (the day after Thanksgiving) when there are specials/sales on cell phone plans. Secondly, we learned that we can get a 15% discount on a plan through his work, provided we go with AT&T or Verizon.

Of course, there the option of avoiding buying a cell phone entirely. We probably won't go that route. A second option is to donate or recycle our current cell phones. If you're in the U.S and in a similar position to the one we're in, check out these options for recycling, donating, or even selling your phone:

Donate your cell phone on Wireless FundraiserSell or recycle your phone on Gazelle or Cell for CashKnowing these options before we buy our new phones will make it very simple to place our cell phones in the mail right after we set up the new ones. I know that if we leave the old phones lying around for a week, we'll never get the energy or momentum to donate them. I have to act immediately.

We're looking to decrease the overall cost of our phone. And we're bound by what's available with the plan we go with. (or are we?) There are a lot of different options which are likely to come out in the next while, but I think the phone itself-- the amount of energy it took to produce and the amount it will use day-to-day, seems fairly standard across different brands.

Raw MaterialsSamsung recently came out with a biodegradable cell phone which, as far as I can tell, is not yet available for purchase.The Nokia 3110 Evolve is also going to be coming out soon.Samsung has come out with a concept phone that completely excludes plastics: SLIQ cell phone

There's clearly a trend towards telephones that are eco-friendly, to the point of being able to function with kinetic energy only. We also seem to be a few years away from that, though. As someone with more than one computer (don't ask how many) in our one bedroom apartment, I am being somewhat hypocritical to imply I'm an Energy Star woman. I'm not. But if I can know my impact a little more, that may be a good first step.

UN Coltan SiteWhat Is Coltan?This short Youtube video helped me get a sense of what Coltan is and what it means in the Congo. There has been a massive increase in demand for it, as it is important for capacitors (and therefore many cell phones). As a result, in eastern Congo, geurilla's have been funding their war efforts through the sale of coltan, even when this means the wholesale destruction of forests.

In Eco Facts, Motorola directly confronts the publicity around this mineral. Although I'm sceptical about my own understanding of where coltan sits in the world economy, I do feel that one could argue for lower consumption of technological products in relation the struggle for this, and many other, natural resources. Even though I cannot see the relationship clearly, there is clearly some, not entirely beneficial relationship between our consumption of technology and the resources that have been garnered for that product. The same is true for any product, but I would argue that mined, non-renewable products deserve a special respect.

DIRECTIONSIn a large bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand about 10 minutes, until frothy. Stir in sugar, milk, egg, salt, and enough flour to make a soft dough. Knead for 6 to 8 minutes on a lightly floured surface, or until smooth. Place dough in a well oiled bowl, cover with a damp cloth, and set aside to rise. Let it rise 1 hour, until the dough has doubled in volume.Punch down dough, and knead in garlic. Pinch off small handfuls of dough about the size of a golf ball. Roll into balls, and place on a tray. Cover with a towel, and allow to rise until doubled in size, about 30 minutes.During the second rising, preheat grill to high heat.At grill side, roll one ball of dough out into a thin circle. Lightly oil grill. Place dough on grill, and cook for 2 to 3 minutes, or until puffy and lightly browned. Brush uncooked side with butter, and turn over. Brush cooked side with butter, and cook until browned, another 2 to 4 minutes. Remove from grill, and continue the process until all the naan has been prepared.

Monday, November 3, 2008

I paste the text of the November 4th speech of Barack Obama. Right now it feels a lot like everyone's birthday; like anything is possible. I'm really hoping this will prove true in our lives. Most of all it feels as though a new day has dawned!

As a liberal Christian I feel as though Barack Obama can talk about their faith without alienating people or implying that our faith demands a certain political affiliation. I know it's a tough path for a leader to walk (has any leader done it? Nelson Mandela?), but it's also an extremely important path-- both for Christianity and for American politics. After the politicization of the Christian right and all that has meant (polarizing other countries, polarizing America), I am so excited that a new day has dawned.

I miss South Africa in a big way, and although that feeling has not diminished, the experience of being in Boston for this election feels like one of the landmark moments of my life.

Enjoy the speech, if you have not watched it 20 times already...

OBAMA: Hello, Chicago.

If there is anyone out there who still doubts that America is a place where all things are possible, who still wonders if the dream of our founders is alive in our time, who still questions the power of our democracy, tonight is your answer.

It's the answer told by lines that stretched around schools and churches in numbers this nation has never seen, by people who waited three hours and four hours, many for the first time in their lives, because they believed that this time must be different, that their voices could be that difference.

It's the answer spoken by young and old, rich and poor, Democrat and Republican, black, white, Hispanic, Asian, Native American, gay, straight, disabled and not disabled. Americans who sent a message to the world that we have never been just a collection of individuals or a collection of red states and blue states.

We are, and always will be, the United States of America.

It's the answer that led those who've been told for so long by so many to be cynical and fearful and doubtful about what we can achieve to put their hands on the arc of history and bend it once more toward the hope of a better day.

It's been a long time coming, but tonight, because of what we did on this date in this election at this defining moment change has come to America.

A little bit earlier this evening, I received an extraordinarily gracious call from Senator McCain.

Senator McCain fought long and hard in this campaign. And he's fought even longer and harder for the country that he loves. He has endured sacrifices for America that most of us cannot begin to imagine. We are better off for the service rendered by this brave and selfless leader.

I congratulate him; I congratulate Governor Palin for all that they've achieved. And I look forward to working with them to renew this nation's promise in the months ahead.

I want to thank my partner in this journey, a man who campaigned from his heart, and spoke for the men and women he grew up with on the streets of Scranton ... and rode with on the train home to Delaware, the vice president-elect of the United States, Joe Biden.

And I would not be standing here tonight without the unyielding support of my best friend for the last 16 years ... the rock of our family, the love of my life, the nation's next first lady ... Michelle Obama.

Sasha and Malia ... I love you both more than you can imagine. And you have earned the new puppy that's coming with us ...to the new White House.

And while she's no longer with us, I know my grandmother's watching, along with the family that made me who I am. I miss them tonight. I know that my debt to them is beyond measure.

To my sister Maya, my sister Alma, all my other brothers and sisters, thank you so much for all the support that you've given me. I am grateful to them.

And to my campaign manager, David Plouffe ... the unsung hero of this campaign, who built the best -- the best political campaign, I think, in the history of the United States of America.

To my chief strategist David Axelrod ... who's been a partner with me every step of the way.

To the best campaign team ever assembled in the history of politics ... you made this happen, and I am forever grateful for what you've sacrificed to get it done.

But above all, I will never forget who this victory truly belongs to. It belongs to you. It belongs to you.

I was never the likeliest candidate for this office. We didn't start with much money or many endorsements. Our campaign was not hatched in the halls of Washington. It began in the backyards of Des Moines and the living rooms of Concord and the front porches of Charleston. It was built by working men and women who dug into what little savings they had to give $5 and $10 and $20 to the cause.

It grew strength from the young people who rejected the myth of their generation's apathy ... who left their homes and their families for jobs that offered little pay and less sleep.

It drew strength from the not-so-young people who braved the bitter cold and scorching heat to knock on doors of perfect strangers, and from the millions of Americans who volunteered and organized and proved that more than two centuries later a government of the people, by the people, and for the people has not perished from the Earth.

This is your victory.

And I know you didn't do this just to win an election. And I know you didn't do it for me.

You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.

There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.

There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

OBAMA: There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

You did it because you understand the enormity of the task that lies ahead. For even as we celebrate tonight, we know the challenges that tomorrow will bring are the greatest of our lifetime -- two wars, a planet in peril, the worst financial crisis in a century.

Even as we stand here tonight, we know there are brave Americans waking up in the deserts of Iraq and the mountains of Afghanistan to risk their lives for us.

There are mothers and fathers who will lie awake after the children fall asleep and wonder how they'll make the mortgage or pay their doctors' bills or save enough for their child's college education.

There's new energy to harness, new jobs to be created, new schools to build, and threats to meet, alliances to repair.

The road ahead will be long. Our climb will be steep. We may not get there in one year or even in one term. But, America, I have never been more hopeful than I am tonight that we will get there.

I promise you, we as a people will get there.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can! Yes we can! Yes we can!

OBAMA: There will be setbacks and false starts. There are many who won't agree with every decision or policy I make as president. And we know the government can't solve every problem.

But I will always be honest with you about the challenges we face. I will listen to you, especially when we disagree. And, above all, I will ask you to join in the work of remaking this nation, the only way it's been done in America for 221 years -- block by block, brick by brick, calloused hand by calloused hand.

What began 21 months ago in the depths of winter cannot end on this autumn night.

This victory alone is not the change we seek. It is only the chance for us to make that change. And that cannot happen if we go back to the way things were.

It can't happen without you, without a new spirit of service, a new spirit of sacrifice.

So let us summon a new spirit of patriotism, of responsibility, where each of us resolves to pitch in and work harder and look after not only ourselves but each other.

Let us remember that, if this financial crisis taught us anything, it's that we cannot have a thriving Wall Street while Main Street suffers.

In this country, we rise or fall as one nation, as one people. Let's resist the temptation to fall back on the same partisanship and pettiness and immaturity that has poisoned our politics for so long.

Let's remember that it was a man from this state who first carried the banner of the Republican Party to the White House, a party founded on the values of self-reliance and individual liberty and national unity.

Those are values that we all share. And while the Democratic Party has won a great victory tonight, we do so with a measure of humility and determination to heal the divides that have held back our progress.

As Lincoln said to a nation far more divided than ours, we are not enemies but friends. Though passion may have strained, it must not break our bonds of affection.

And to those Americans whose support I have yet to earn, I may not have won your vote tonight, but I hear your voices. I need your help. And I will be your president, too.

And to all those watching tonight from beyond our shores, from parliaments and palaces, to those who are huddled around radios in the forgotten corners of the world, our stories are singular, but our destiny is shared, and a new dawn of American leadership is at hand.

To those -- to those who would tear the world down: We will defeat you. To those who seek peace and security: We support you. And to all those who have wondered if America's beacon still burns as bright: Tonight we proved once more that the true strength of our nation comes not from the might of our arms or the scale of our wealth, but from the enduring power of our ideals: democracy, liberty, opportunity and unyielding hope.

That's the true genius of America: that America can change. Our union can be perfected. What we've already achieved gives us hope for what we can and must achieve tomorrow.

This election had many firsts and many stories that will be told for generations. But one that's on my mind tonight's about a woman who cast her ballot in Atlanta. She's a lot like the millions of others who stood in line to make their voice heard in this election except for one thing: Ann Nixon Cooper is 106 years old.

She was born just a generation past slavery; a time when there were no cars on the road or planes in the sky; when someone like her couldn't vote for two reasons -- because she was a woman and because of the color of her skin.

And tonight, I think about all that she's seen throughout her century in America -- the heartache and the hope; the struggle and the progress; the times we were told that we can't, and the people who pressed on with that American creed: Yes we can.

At a time when women's voices were silenced and their hopes dismissed, she lived to see them stand up and speak out and reach for the ballot. Yes we can.

When there was despair in the dust bowl and depression across the land, she saw a nation conquer fear itself with a New Deal, new jobs, a new sense of common purpose. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: When the bombs fell on our harbor and tyranny threatened the world, she was there to witness a generation rise to greatness and a democracy was saved. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: She was there for the buses in Montgomery, the hoses in Birmingham, a bridge in Selma, and a preacher from Atlanta who told a people that We Shall Overcome. Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: A man touched down on the moon, a wall came down in Berlin, a world was connected by our own science and imagination.

And this year, in this election, she touched her finger to a screen, and cast her vote, because after 106 years in America, through the best of times and the darkest of hours, she knows how America can change.

Yes we can.

AUDIENCE: Yes we can.

OBAMA: America, we have come so far. We have seen so much. But there is so much more to do. So tonight, let us ask ourselves -- if our children should live to see the next century; if my daughters should be so lucky to live as long as Ann Nixon Cooper, what change will they see? What progress will we have made?

This is our chance to answer that call. This is our moment.

This is our time, to put our people back to work and open doors of opportunity for our kids; to restore prosperity and promote the cause of peace; to reclaim the American dream and reaffirm that fundamental truth, that, out of many, we are one; that while we breathe, we hope. And where we are met with cynicism and doubts and those who tell us that we can't, we will respond with that timeless creed that sums up the spirit of a people: Yes, we can.

Thank you. God bless you. And may God bless the United States of America.